Boy Leaves Heart Wrenching Note On Panda Because His Mother Couldn’t Afford It

By Nicola Rossi, Published on Jul 6, 2017

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To the average person, a stuffed animal might not matter much, but for a child, it could mean the world. When 10-year-old Leon Ashworth’s mom sadly couldn’t afford to buy a stuffed panda he desperately wanted, he wrote a note on the cuddly toy’s box pleading with shoppers not to buy it until his mom could.

Leon, who lives in Liverpool, England with his mom, Debbie Ashworth, first saw his beloved ‘Pandy’ at Asda, the British equivalent of Wal-Mart. Pandy was a cuddly Panda toy that stole the heart of 10-year-old. Though Leo was willing to wait patiently until his mom’s paycheck came in to take the cuddly bear home, the staff at Asda decided to do something incredibly thoughtful after they noticed Leon’s scribbled letter.

The forlorn note read, “My mum [doesn’t] have [enough] money, so she’s [buying] me Pandy [Friday] next week 15 June. So please don’t [buy] him, it will make me cry. Thank you so much from Hopeful [Future] Owner. Panda’s name – Pandy!

In search of the young author, whose name they didn’t know at the time, a staff member posted the note on Facebook, and it went viral! Eventually, Debbie Ashworth saw the post and immediately recognized her son’s handwriting.

The Asda crew invited Debbie and Leon back to the store, and had a wonderful surprise waiting for them, Pandy! They all pitched in to buy the heartwarming gift Leon had been longing for. “This is the best day of my life,” Leon remarked to his mom.

Leon was overjoyed, but for his mom, who lost a premature baby in January, the gesture was even more meaningful. This goes to show that even small acts of kindness can mean the world to someone else, so pay it forward!